During the 2024 Oscars ceremony, Ryan Gosling took to the stage with everyone from Simu Liu to Slash to perform “I’m Just Ken” — one of the breakout (and award-nominated) songs from Barbie.
In the movie, “I’m Just Ken” is a super heightened number, as the Kens rev themselves up for an inter-Ken world, and basically represents their idea of the patriarchy breaking at the seams. The Kens rally to fight each other with sports equipment and hobby horses, a big musical manifestation of their toxic masculinity. Eventually Gosling’s Ken and Simu Liu’s Ken bump chests and the sequence melds into a dream ballet, where the two factions of Kens have an aggressive dance-off.
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During the show, “I’m Just Ken” started off right after the award for Best Sound, with Ryan Gosling in a sparkly pink suit crooning from behind Margot Robbie. He slowly sauntered up to the stage, joined by a group of dancers in tuxedos, pink sashes, and cowboy hats (including fellow Kens, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Ncuti Gatwa). The dancers proceeded to engage in a similar mock fight-dance, with Gosling karate chopping pink pieces of pink wood. Stage awash with pink light, Gosling continued to croon in a sea of giant Barbie face props, before joining Slash from Guns ‘N Roses rocking out on the guitar. Then, he went down into the audience to get the rest of the Barbie cast in on the action.
It was, in a word, Kennough.
“I’m Just Ken” wasn’t the only nominated song from Barbie. Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”, the melancholy number that plays at the end of the movie as Barbie realizes she wants to be more than just an idea, was also on the roster. Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, her brother and frequent collaborator, performed the number earlier in the night. In the end, it was “What Was I Made For?” that took home the Oscar gold — but “I’m Just Ken” certainly was a fun time.
